The eldest daughter's scheming, the crown prince's exclusive favor to the venomous concubi

Seeing that Chang Le was still in shock, he suddenly smiled and said knowingly, "Since the princess is traveling incognito, I have nothing to expose. So, princess, could you please consider my identity as a man and not come here to make a fool of yourself?"

Chang Le's expression gradually darkened. She never expected that Lu Nianzhe would still treat her with such disdain after revealing her identity. She couldn't help but say angrily, "You dislike me that much? In all my years, I have never spoken to anyone so humbly. You are the first."

Lu Nianzhe said calmly, "You are free to develop a second one. Don't worry, I won't feel uncomfortable at all."

After saying that, Lu Nianzhe slammed the door shut just as she was about to argue.

Chang Le almost got her nose slapped, and angrily banged on the door repeatedly, only to find that Lu Nianzhe was no longer inside.

On the rooftop, Lu Nianzhe glanced at Chang Le, who was still struggling relentlessly against the door, shook his head, turned around, and leaped towards the direction of the yamen.

When Hua Xiangrong and Jian Yue built the village, they found a place that was well-connected and inconspicuous. It was about four or five miles away from the capital city and was under the jurisdiction of the capital city. However, because there were many villages, a government office was built in the center of all the villages, which was called the subordinate government office.

The county magistrate here has a very leisurely life. After Bai Jianan and Jian Yue settled here and built Baiyue Village, they brought peace and prosperity to all the people here and maintained order in the surrounding area. Basically, the county magistrate has nothing to do.

As a result, this place became a coveted post for many seventh-rank county officials.

But ever since Bai Jianan and the entire Baiyue Village disappeared, and then came the war, things have changed a lot. The county magistrate could no longer enjoy his former leisure, so he left through connections. The current county magistrate was appointed by Chu Tianyi after he took office.

At this moment, he sat on the high hall, feeling uneasy. His advisor accompanied him cautiously, glancing out of the hall every now and then.

Finally, when Lu Nianzhe, dressed in white, walked step by step outside the hall and picked up the drumstick of the grievance drum to strike it, the county magistrate broke out in a cold sweat. The clerk quickly tensed up and looked tremblingly at the smiling young man in white who walked in.

"Hall, hall, who is standing below, and why are you beating the drum?"

Lu Nianzhe bowed to the county magistrate seated above him and said, "My surname is Lu and my given name is Nianzhe. I beat the drum to appeal for justice so that I may file a complaint. I hope Your Honor can enlighten me."

Upon hearing this, the county magistrate's eyes darted around, and after a long while, he said, "Judging from your refined manner and the way you walked in with a smile, you don't seem like someone who has been wronged."

Lu Nianzhe smiled and said, "It doesn't seem like it, but it's not that it's not true. Otherwise, why would I be here? It's just that my grievance came suddenly, and I'm very puzzled. That's why I'm asking the county magistrate for clarification so that I can be at ease."

How could the county magistrate not know what Lu Nianzhe was talking about? Yesterday's events had already caused quite a stir here, especially since he dared to provoke the current empress's darling. He was already almost certain that this person was the one whose identity he was talking about.

But the more he confirmed it, the more frightened he became, and cold sweat trickled down his face through the gap between his official hat and his skin.

Lu Nianzhe remained calm and continued, "Sir, please tell me why my property has become government property? Since ancient times, it has always taken thirty years for ownerless courtyards to be re-registered by the government."

Why is it that only my family's courtyard is being sold off, even though we moved away six or seven years ago? Are the property deeds and land deeds we hold just pieces of paper?

As he spoke, he took out the house deeds and land deeds from his pocket and continued, "You must have known very well why our village was built and to whom it belongs when you became the magistrate here. I suppose you also understand that Baiyue Village exists like a fiefdom. It is not allowed to be sold or put up for sale without the permission of the owner of this land. May I ask, sir, how did you have the audacity to sell or give away our homes to others?"

If you cannot provide me with this answer today, then I will have no choice but to go to the palace with these questions in mind.

The magistrate was so frightened that he fell off his chair and knelt down, not daring to look at Lu Nianzhe again. The clerk next to him also knelt down and begged for mercy, "Young master, please calm down! Young master, this has nothing to do with us. It was the people in the palace who asked us to do this. Who would have thought that you would come back just as this matter was starting!"

Lu Nianzhe sneered: "If we don't come back, will the entire White Moon Village be destroyed by you without any remorse? When you accepted this mission, did you ever think that in this vast world, what could possibly be hidden from the Qilin Pavilion?"

Everyone knows who owns the Qilin Pavilion. This history was recorded in the annals by Chu Tianyi without any falsehood and was praised by many people. Everyone knows it. It was because of this that the county magistrate finally realized what a hot potato he had taken on.

Why were you so greedy back then, eyeing that little bit of silver?

He crawled step by step to Chu Tianyi's feet, crying and pleading, "Young master, please forgive me! I have my reasons! How could I dare to disobey Her Majesty's order? That would cost the lives of my entire family!"

Lu Nianzhe said, "Hehe, what a fine excuse for not daring to resist, but you've forgotten that this black hat of yours wasn't given to you by the Empress."

As soon as Lu Nianzhe finished speaking, a carrier pigeon flew in from outside and landed on his shoulder. He picked it up, glanced at it, smiled slightly, and said, "You've never seen the Emperor before, have you? What a coincidence! Let's wait for the Emperor together here today! It's a good chance to catch a glimpse of his imperial countenance. You're truly blessed."

Upon hearing this, the magistrate's eyes narrowed, and he finally sat down on the ground with a look of utter despair. At this moment, Chang Le arrived, panting heavily, but before she could even question him, she heard a loud voice from outside, and she knew it was all over.

"The Emperor has arrived."

With the eunuch's distinctive voice, Chu Tianyi strode into the hall, glanced coldly at the county magistrate who was slumped on the ground, and then at his daughter who dared not look him in the eye. He snorted and walked toward Lu Nianzhe.

"Your name is Nian Zhe?"

Lu Nianzhe's eyebrows and eyes resembled Qiu Lingyu's, and thus he looked very much like Shangguan Jianyue. Chu Tianyi was somewhat stunned, yet uncertain. Lu Nianzhe naturally knew this, smiled slightly, and bowed to Chu Tianyi, saying, "My name is Lu Nianzhe. Shangguan Jianyue is my aunt. I have returned this time at my aunt's request to visit the old house."

Chu Tian's eyes showed disappointment, but upon hearing that a mansion had been built, his expression turned serious as he turned to Chang Le and asked, "Whose idea was this?"

Chang Le was so frightened that she immediately knelt down, lowered her head and remained silent. Chu Tian frowned and said, "Is this all your mother taught you? At such a young age, you are ignorant and do such things? Do you even have the status of a princess of a country?"

Chang Le raised her eyes, her gaze defiant, and said unwillingly, "Where am I not acting like a princess? I just want to see what the outside world is like. I became a constable and helped the yamen maintain order in this area. How am I incompetent?"

Chu Tianyi said angrily, "You're still arguing? What exactly happened? I said no one is allowed to touch Baiyue Village. Did you just ignore my words?"

Chang Le shrank back, biting her lip, and said, "Then you didn't say why we can't move it? Mother Consort said that everyone here is dead, so what's the point of leaving an empty house? If someone wants to buy it, why can't we sell it? Who knew the dead could come back to life?"

She stole a glance at Lu Nianzhe, wanting to glare at him, but seeing his handsome face, she became infatuated and did nothing, lowering her head, not wanting him to see her current disheveled state.

Upon hearing this, Chu Tian paused: "Your mother told you that everyone here is dead?"

Upon hearing this, Chang Le sensed something was wrong and quickly changed the subject, saying, "What does it matter whether the people here live or die? Who would go seven or eight years without returning home? An entire village, more than a hundred households, so many houses—shouldn't they be put to good use by others?"

Lu Nianzhe stepped forward and said sarcastically, "What a clever way to make use of waste! Have you noticed that these houses are clean and tidy, not at all like they haven't been lived in for six or seven years? How do you know no one has come back all these years?"

Chang Le was speechless. Lu Nianzhe continued, "Every household here has put a lot of thought into the decoration and design of their houses. When they settled here, they planned to live here for the rest of their lives. But sometimes things happen too suddenly, and we have to leave."

Yet we've never abandoned this place. Every year during the Ghost Festival, we return, and every two weeks, someone from the entire village comes to clean it. Tell me, is this really an abandoned, unclaimed courtyard? Princess, have you ever seen someone who decorates their house lavishly and then abandons it? That person must be either a fool or a madman!

Chang Le gritted her teeth, speechless. Heaven knows that when she first learned that her mother wanted to get rid of the village, she was just curious about what kind of place it was. Although she knew that her mother always looked gloomy when the village was mentioned, she never thought that there were complicated things going on here.

For her mother's sake, she volunteered to come here to handle the situation. Her mother then used her resources to get her to leave the palace and come here without her father's knowledge. However, she never expected that the owner of this place would return in just three to five days, and be so arrogant.

She knew this place belonged to the former royal family, and she knew that her father treated this place as his lifeblood and forbade anyone to touch it, but she didn't know the story behind it.

Faced with Chu Tianyi's anger, Lu Nianzhe's mockery, and her mother's sorrow in her mind, she immediately stood up, her eyes reddening as she looked at Chu Tianyi and said, "Father only criticizes me, but have you ever thought about the resentment in Mother's heart?"

I don’t know why my father values ​​this place so much, nor do I know why it has been vacant for so long. But I know that whenever this place is mentioned, my mother is in a bad mood, and sometimes she cries at night. I always wonder why my mother is so sad when my father’s palace is empty and there is only my mother.

I thought, since there's no one here anymore, I'll just deal with it to make Mother feel better. It's not as bad as Father made it out to be. If Father doesn't like it, he can punish Chang Le, but Chang Le is resentful and feels even more sorry for Mother."